This article was originally published on October 11, 2021.
In 1536, condemned English queen Anne Boleyn knelt in a courtyard in front of an executioner’s sword and awaited the fatal blow to her neck. After the swordsman struck, he presented the severed head for witnesses to see. But Anne wasn’t ready to quit while she was a head: Onlookers later claimed that the queen’s lips were moving. Was she trying to say something?
More than two centuries later, a young French aristocrat snuck into the bathroom of a revolutionary leader and stabbed him while he soaked in the tub. The assassin, Charlotte Corday, was executed by the guillotine. Once the blade dropped, the executioner held up the severed head and then slapped each cheek as a sign of disrespect. Onlookers claimed Corday’s face flushed and she appeared enraged, as if she understood the insult.
Scientists have long wondered whether a person retains momentary consciousness after decapitation. If the severed head reacted to stimuli, does that mean the person understood their head was severed from the neck? Did they feel pain?
